Fire barriers, for example, are commonly used in expansion joints in buildings to provide the required fire protection, such that the “chimney effect” does not speed the proliferation of fire from one area to another. Typically, such fire barriers consist of a plurality of material layers backed by a metallic foil layer, fabric layer, or the like. The fire barriers are often “hung” in building expansion joints or other openings requiring the continuation of a fire rating from substrate to substrate. The fire barriers are installed either vertically or horizontally in a substantially U-like configuration, engaging the associated expansion joint covers and/or building substrates. Such installation can be made difficult by the wide variety of expansion joint/expansion joint cover sizes, shapes, and configurations, for example, making frequent fire barrier material splices and the like necessary, thereby increasing installation effort and reducing the effectiveness of the fire barriers in preventing the proliferation of fire from one area to another. Similar principles apply to vapor/moisture barriers, sound barriers, insulation, and the like.
Thus, what is needed in the art is a modular expansion joint barrier retainer assembly and method that essentially allows one configuration of barrier to be produced by a manufacturer that may be installed in a wide variety of expansion joints or other openings by selecting anchor flanges for the application, thereby making installation more simple and uniform, and reducing the number of splices and the like that are necessary, thereby maintaining the structural integrity of the fire/smoke barrier, vapor/moisture barrier, sound barrier, insulation, or the like.